Monday, December 11, 2017

Ok, I'm really not just saying this because he reads the blog. I truly and really love it when the Ebbs' come to visit us. It's such a low key visit, low expectations, lots of great conversation, good kids, they're appreciative but know they should act like our house is their house, the whole nine yards. We don't see them nearly enough, and we don't visit them nearly enough. But, we did get the chance to see them in the summer, and it was as great as I knew it would be. The only downfall is that Tammy told me she'd send me pics and she didn't! So, I have these...

Like every summer, we have baseball and softball games. And Brian and Tammy just come along to all. Jack loves Nolan, and was excited to be able to be bat boy for them. It was awesome... they could not have been cuter together!

And they also came to Abby's games, and brought signs! What better cheering and fan section could you have?

And then... we had hula hoop contests! These are some good hula hoopers! Tammy even brought prizes. I think Nolan might have won, but I may have discounted some of his scores (sssshhhhh!). In the end, Ava was declared the winner. The prize was a post card of flamingos hula hooping, and Ava couldn't have been prouder. Months later, it's still hanging by her bed. I love it!

Friday, December 8, 2017

At the beginning of summer, Ava was in drama camp where they produced Peter Pan. I was so proud of her. She worked hard and tried out for Tinker Bell. She didn't get it, but she was ok with that. She was Cubby instead, one of the Lost Boys. She was the cutest Lost Boy I ever saw! They had four hour practices 6 days a week for two weeks, and then it was show time. It was amazing what they learned and all they did in those two weeks. I loved the show... all three times I saw it!

My favorite line... why are there no lost girls? "Because girls are too smart to fall out of their cribs!"

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Sometimes he tries to be so cool. His hair and his clothes and his shoes have to be just right. And then other times he's such a goofball in his dancing and his jokes. He and Ava are either super loud laughing and playing or super loud fighting. Usually you can't tell the difference and one leads to the other. In this moment, they were clearly enjoying!

Note... Ava has Max's underwear on, both on her head and wearing them!

For the record, Abby has her own share of craziness too! I'm not sure what this is either! Funny is that there's no picture of Max in this post. I think we're just used to his level of craziness!

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Ava made her First Communion last April... the last of all four kids. Like Abby, Ava wore my mom's veil from her First Communion, and also tried on my mom's dress as well. The picture she's holding is the picture of my mom from her First Communion.

As long as we're on the subject of Ava...there are some other random ones. This is at a baseball tourney where we found these trees and other things to climb on. She's sometimes crazy, and strong willed, but as long as I don't completely shut it down, she will change the world some day. Last spring she threw a sweatshirt at me from the backseat, so I threw it out the window. Seriously child, you can't beat me! She's been following every older child to every sporting event ever, and she's finally getting into her own. It'll be fun to watch her and see what she does!

She looks so angelic! She was very excited about this day, and loved her dress. Even better is we borrowed it from a friend of ours!

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Well, it's not really true that Dave hasn't been working. I mean kind of, but there's still been a lot of work that he's been doing.

In May, it became really evident that the company he was with was not a fit. And not only was it not a fit, but I question their financial viability... things like he didn't get paid on time. So, it wasn't worth it and I encouraged him to just quit. And for once he listened to me! So, let the job search ensue. He had some interviews early on, but nothing he was excited about. And the kids were ending the school year, and I made the calendar for them starting in June. And on any given day, there were 2-6 activities that kids needed to be at. Everything from summer gym and cross fit to play practice and LaCrosse camp. So... I highly encouraged Dave to slow down the job search and focus again after summer. And either because he just didn't have time or because he listened to me, that's exactly what happened. While I got up and went to work early, he was home with the kids and playing taxi and refereeing fights and making up games and finishing laundry and cooking dinner and... everything. I had the good end of that deal for sure, and by end of summer he was ready for school to start!! And then the job search ensued, and two months later he got three job offers in the same week. A nice place to be! Long story short, he accepted a job with SAP and he starts in January. He's super excited and I'm super excited for him. But I'm also mourning the loss of a stay at home dad who's really good at it. I go to work, and I come home. And I wear the clean clothes he laundered and eat the food he made and shopped for and play games with the kids instead of doing homework and playing taxi. And he got the storage room cleaned out and the garage organized and cupboards whipped into shape. I've made a honey do list, and he gets it all done. It's been a lot of work. In January, when he goes to "real" work, he'll actually get to relax!